Page 19 of The Demon Court

“That their king is a fool who doesn’t listen to his people. What are you doing?” she snapped. But she didn’t turn around.

“I find it amusing that you claim they call me a fool. They do not. I am the only reason this kingdom still runs as it does and no one could ever deny that.” It was getting more difficult to speak with all the pins in his mouth. Why had she turned herself into a pincushion?

“Because my hair is thick and needs more pins to hold it together.”

Oh, had he said that last bit out loud?

Lust spit the pins into his palm and then let them fall onto the floor. Their tinkling sounds struck again and again, and as he watched, more of those delectable goosebumps rose along her neck. Fascinating. So she enjoyed sounds, even if her mind refused to believe it.

He could work with that.

Finally, he pulled the largest pin and let the long waves of her hair free. Just as he’d imagined, the peppermint of her scent overwhelmed him. His eyes rolled back in his head at the first waft of that ice cold threat of magic and power and woman.

Ah, but she was a pretty little thing. A block of ice that needed to be chipped away until it revealed the crystalline sculpture beneath.

“You want me to believe you feel nothing,” he whispered in her ear, so close he could feel the shiver that trailed through her body. “That the sight of me disgusts you.”

“I’m not trying to convince you of anything. I want you to see what is in front of you.”

She could talk all she wanted. But her body didn’t lie. He trailed the backs of his fingers down her arm until he gently lifted her wrist. Her arm laid atop his, all heavy brocade and scratching embroidery. “When you come to my castle, you will be covered in silks. You will wear clothing that is fit for your form until I can see all of it. You will sleep in my bed. I will be the first and last person you see every day and I will never stop tempting you. Do you really think you can suffer through that?”

“You are not as tempting as you think.”

But she’d leaned back into him. He wasn’t sure she even realized she was doing it. Selene shifted her weight into her heels, just slightly, enough so that he could feel her pressing her back against his chest. Not enough to nudge his painfully hard cock, but enough to tease him with the fabric that covered her.

He chuckled low in her ear and knew even then that he’d broken through. Her faint gasp, along with a slight inhalation that made him grin.

He couldn’t taste her lust like he had the others. He couldn’t even sense that she was affected.

But she was.

He rumbled a hum in her ear, just to feel that shiver one more time, before he muttered, “I’m going to enjoy breaking you.”

And then, because he could, he stepped away from her and let the cold rush of air replace him.

She stumbled, as if shocked. Or perhaps trying to put space between them because she refused to let him try to break her as he claimed he would.

It would be the sweetest seduction, he realized. But that would be the challenge of it. Even if he was walking right into the damned sorceresses’ trap.

Turning on his heel, he glared down at the High Sorceress. “We leave today. If you want her in my castle, then get her ready. I will not come back a second time.”

The High Sorceress’s jaw dropped open. “That is not enough time to prepare her, let alone pack her things.”

“Excuse me?” Selene snapped from behind him. “I need to say goodbye to my family. I haven’t packed, and I certainly am not prepared to leave now. A week is not that long to wait.”

He didn’t turn to her when he replied, “I have no wish to wait a week.” Then he crouched in front of her mother, who had at least gotten onto her knees and tilted her chin up to him. “And I don’t want you to wriggle your way into her mind anymore than you already have. You’ve had twenty-five years to brainwash her into your puppet, Minerva. Now I will see how strong the bond between mother and daughter really is.”

He sneered at the last sentence. Mother and daughter. He knew the tendrils of control when he saw them, and Minerva was no mother. She’d seen an opportunity, and she’d taken it.

Minerva bared her teeth. “I think you’ll find my daughter is loyal to her family, Demon.”

“Ah.” He nodded and then stood. “Because your family is so loyal to her. You’re feeding her to a demon, after all.”

He turned without looking at anyone else and stalked toward the door. Damned woman had gotten him all tense again, and he’d have to take care of it before he put that little sorceress in his carriage or who knows what madness he might try. Like getting on his knees and begging for a taste just to see if she was as icy between her thighs as she appeared.

“You have two hours!” he called out, his voice bouncing off the marble. “I won’t wait any longer than that.”

ChapterSeven

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